Apparatus and method for packaging cans or the like



y 1959 G. .c. CURRIE ET AL 2,885,841 APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR PACKAGING CANS OR THE LIKE 5 Sheets-$heet 1 Filed June 16, 1955 GRovER C CURE/s and PF/PK) L. 41 [X/M/DEA, (77?. INVENTORS 3 ain, M

ATTORNEYS y 12, 1959 G. c. CURRIE ET AL 2,885,841

APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR PACKAGING CANS OR THE LIKE Filed June 16, 1955 Q :s Sheets-Sheet a INVENTORS: GROVER C. C URRIE Paw) A 415M405? J/F. BY 6,12,. 4 M

ATTORNEYS.

United StatesPatent O APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR PACKAGING CANS OR THE LIKE Grover C. Currie and Perry L. Alexander, Jr., N.C., assignors to Dacam Corporation, NC, a corporation of North Carolina Application June 16, 1955, Serial No. 515,976 15 Claims. (Cl. 53-26) Charlotte, Charlotte,

This invention relates to a method and apparatus .for loading and packaging articles in cartons for shipment or storing and more especially to a method and apparatus for automatically feeding cans in upright position into the open sides of continuously moving cartons and to vclosing and sealing the filled cartons.

Articles, such as cans of beverages, are ordinarily packaged in cartons by placing the cans of beverage in an upright position on a carton blank which has been momentarily stopped and thereafter folding the sides and top walls of the blank together to enclose the cans of beverage.

Another widely used method of packaging beverage cans in cartons comprises assembling the side walls and bottom wall of the carton together and dropping the desired number of cans through the open top of the carton while the carton is momentarily stopped and, thereafter, closing the same to have the carton ready for shipment or storage. Neither of these two methods of the so-called gravity-drop type for packaging cans of beverage into a carton have been proven entirely satisfactory due to the difficulty in accuratelyplacing the desired number of beverage cans inthe proper position on the carton blank or in the partially assembled carton, since each method depends on beverage cans being dropped. Also, the speed of operation is considerably reduced due to the carton blank or partially assembled carton having to be at a standstill while the cans are placed thereon.

The present invention overcomes the deficiencies of these prior carton loading mechanisms by feeding cans J from two directions into opposed open sides of a moving ,earton by a sliding movement while the cans are maintained in an upright position. The carton is never stopped to receive the cans as has been the practice heretofore.

It is therefore a primary object of the invention 'to provide a novel method and apparatus wherein a plurality of spaced cartons having opposed open sides are continuopposed open sides are provided for receiving in timed relation the groups of articles therein.

It is a further object of the invention to provide novel means for arranging two continuous streams of articles into groupsand novel means for applying a continuous pressure to each group to force the groups by a sliding Some of the objects of the invention having beenstated, other objects will appear as the description proceeds, when ataken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in

.and converging movement into'moving cartons having op- :posed open sides.

bracketsv 37a and 38a.

tiallyalong line 3-3 in Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a side elevation of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a vertical section taken along the line 5-5 in Figure 3;

Figure 6 is a top plan view similar to Figure 3 but showing parts in a different position.

Referring more specifically to the drawings wherein like parts are designated by the same reference numeral, there is shown a substantially rectangular frame structure 10 having a plurality of spaced longitudinally extending members 11 supporting a plurality of cross braces 12, a plurality of front and back uprights or legs 13 and 14, respectively, and a plurality of intermediate uprights 15. The feet of the legs 13, 14 and 15 are secured to a suitable base 18. A channel-shaped member 16 is provided in the medial upper portion of the frame 10 and restson the cross braces 12 and the upper run of a conveyor 17, comprising a pair of spaced endless chains 20, is positioned in the member 16. A plate 21 having chain guides is provided inside the confines of the member 16 for the pair of chains 20 so the same will not sag and interfere with other parts during its movement.

The conveyor 17 carries a plurality of spaced cartons 22 having their upper side flaps 22a, 22b and lower side flaps 22c, 22d in open position to receive articles to be fed into the same (Figure 5). The cartons 22 are positioned on the conveyor 17 in proper spaced apart relation by upright front carton supports 23 connected by suitable linkage 24 (Figure 4) to the pair of spaced chains 20 and by upright back carton supports 25 also suitably secured. to the spaced chains 20. It will be noted that the front and back carton supports 23 and25, respectively, are positioned apart from each other a distance substantially the same as the length of the cartons 22 to retain the cartons there-between in partially assembled position and to move the same forwardly by the back carton supports 25 engaging the back walls of the carton.

.To permit articles to be moved into the cartons 22, a pair of spaced rods or. guide rails 30 (Figure 5) suitably secured by brackets 31 to the frame 10 are provided for maintaining opposed upper side flaps 22a and 22b of the cartons 22 in open position by engaging the inner surfaces of the flaps. Opposed substantially flat rectangular guide plates 32 spaced from the sides of channel-shapedmember 16 are also provided for maintaining the lower side flaps 22c and 22d in open position by engaging the inner surfaces of the flaps.

As the cartons 22 are carried forwardly by the conveyor 17, a pair of conveyors 35 spaced from opposite sides of the conveyor 17 are conveying a continuous stream of articles or containers 36, such as cans of beverage, between pairs of spaced guiding walls 37 and 38 (Figure 2) suitably secured to the frame structure 10 by The pair of spaced endless conveyors 35 present the articles 36 to a pair of article selectors or article grouping devices 39 each of which comprises a pair of rotatable star wheels 40 having recessed portions 41 to receive a single article at a time and shoulder portions 42 to prevent two articles 36 from jamming into'the recessed portions 41. It will be observed that the pairs of star wheels 40 each rotates in the opposite direction from the other pair.

One of each of the pairs of guide rails 37, for guiding the articles 36 along the conveyors 35, is extended to guide the articles 36 during their path of travel by each of the pairs of star wheels 40. Rotatable circular plates 43 are provided onto which the articles 36 pass when they leave the conveyors 35 to support the articles 36 as they are carried around by the pairs of star wheels 40. Suitable supporting braces 44 secured to longitudinal frame members 11 (Figure are provided for maintaining in proper position the portion of the guide rails 37 which guide the articles 36 in their path of travel by the pairs of star wheels 40.

A guide rail 45, as shown in Figures 2, 5 and 6, extends over each of the rotatable plates 43 between each of the pairs of star wheels 40 and guides the articles 36 from the recessed portions 41 of the star wheels 40 onto plates 46 which are in alinement with circular plates 43. When a group of the articles have been positioned on the plates 46, group feeding devices 50 engage the same to move the articles into the cartons.

Each of the group feeding devices 50 has upper and lower chains 51 which serve as inner rails to guide the groups of articles from the circular plate 43 onto plate 46 between the rail 45. The pairs of chains 51 are driven by pairs of sprockets 52 and guided by pairs of idler sprockets 53 and each of said chains has secured thereto a plurality of spaced article engaging lugs 54, of which three are shown (Figures 3 and 6) on each chain 51 for purposes of illustration. The lugs 54 each successively engages the side of the last article in each group adjacent its top and bottom as shown in Figure 5 to move the groups of articles onto the circular plates 47 rotatably mounted with the driving sprocket wheels 52. From plates 47 the articles are moved by lugs 54 onto the substantially rectangular flat plates 32 adjacent the side edges of the conveyor 17 until the leading article of the groups of articles 36 engages carton loading guide plates 56 positioned at an angle to the conveyor 17 which plates 56 converge the groups of articles 36 in through opposed open sides of the cartons 22 as shown in Figure 3. The guide plates 56 as will be observed in Figure 5 are positioned at a medial point between the lugs 54 on the pairs of chains 51 so the lugs 54 will be clear of the same in their path of travel. It will be observed that a continuous pressure is exerted on the groups of articles 36 by the lugs 54 so there is no chance of the articles in the corresponding groups being spaced from each other as they are moved into the open sides of the moving cartons 22.

The guide rails 30 and guide plates 32, which maintain the flaps 22a, 22b, 22c and 22d of the carton 22 in open position, terminate a short distance beyond the station wherein the groups of articles 36 are positioned in the cartons 22 by the lugs 54 and guide plates 56 as shown in Figure l.

The lower side surfaces of the top flaps 22a, 22b pass through opposed glue applying stations 60, only one of which is shown, wherein a container of glue 61 has a large roller 62 rotatably mounted therein to apply glue to the inner surfaces of the carton side flaps 22a, 22b as the flaps pass between a roller 63 and the roller 62. Carton flap enclosing plates 64 and 65 are provided on both sides of the cartons for moving the side flaps into sealing engagement. It will be observed in Figure 1 that the flap guiding plate 65 is positioned closer to the gluing station 60 than the flap guiding plate 64 to move the lower side flaps 22c and 22d upwardly into sealing position before the upper side flaps 22a, 22b with the glue applied thereto are moved downwardly against the outer surfaces of the lower side flaps 22c, 22d to seal the carton. The carton flap enclosing plates 64 and 65 have respective flared front ends 64a and 65a to guide the respective flaps in overlapping position between substantially vertical spaced portions 64b and 65b of the guiding plates.

Power driving means An electric motor 70 (Figure 1) drives a shaft 71 through a suitable speed reduction unit 69. From the shaft 71 is driven a chain 72 for driving a shaft 73 upon which is suitably mounted the pair of chains 20. The

shaft 71 also drives a chain 74 which drives a shaft 75 for driving pairs of bevel gears 76 (Figure 2), which gears drive a pair of shafts 77 which carry the pairs of driver sprocket wheels 52 for the pairs of chains 51 of the group feeding device 50.

A chain 80 is driven by a small sprocket wheel 81 on the shaft 75 for driving a shaft 82 through a large sprocket wheel 83. The sprocket wheel 81 has two revolutions for each revolution of sprocket wheel 83. Therefore, the shaft 82 drives shaft 84 upon which are carried the star wheels 40 through pairs of bevel gears 85 (Figure 5) at one-half the speed of the article group feeding devices 50. A motor (Figure 1) drives a chain 91 which drives a shaft 92 to move the pair of conveyors 35 for feeding the articles 36 in a continuous stream to the article selector or article grouping devices 39.

A pair of guiding channels 94 (Figure 1) are suitably secured to each side of the frame 10 and guide the upper and lower run of the corresponding conveyor 35 to prevent the same from sagging and interfering with other parts.

Operation of the machine A plurality of cartons 22 are placed on the conveyor 17 in spaced apart relation between the front and back carton supports 23 and 25 with their side flaps held open by the guide rails 30 and guide plates 32 and are continuously moved forwardly by the conveyor 17. The conveyors 35 are delivering a continuous stream of articles 36 to the article selector or article grouping device 39 which moves the articles one at a time from the conveyors 35 and guides the articles into position in groups to be engaged by the lugs 54 of the pairs of chains 51. The chains 51 move the groups of articles into a position parallel to the conveyor 17 and into cartons 22 by the converging article group guiding plates 56 cooperating with the lugs 54 to force the groups of articles into the cartons 22 by a sliding movement.

As will be observed in Figure 3 two groups of three articles each are being moved into one of the cartons 22 while the subsequent groups are being moved forward into loading position by the lugs 54 on the chain 51. As will be observed in Figure 6, groups of articles are positioned in alinement with the open sides of the carton 22 and the groups will be moved into the carton 22 when the articles engage the guiding plates 56.

The article group feeding device 50, comprising the lugs 54, is timed to move at substantially the same speed as the conveyor 17 to properly aline the groups of articles 36 with the open sides of the cartons so the same may be guided inwardly thereof by the guiding plates 56.

After the articles 36 are placed into the open sides of the cartons 22, the upper side flaps 22a and 22b of the cartons have suitable adhesive means applied to their inner surfaces by the gluing device 60 which is positioned in the path of travel of the carton flaps. From the gluing station 60 the flaps of the cartons are moved into securing position by the guiding plates 64 and 65, respectively, to thus complete the packaging of the articles 36 in condition to be stored or shipped in the cartons 22.

It is thus seen that there has been provided a novel method and apparatus for loading articles into a carton for shipment or storage and wherein the articles are moved in groups in upright position into the open sides of the cartons which are moving continuously in spaced relation and at the same speed as the continuously moving groups of articles.

In the drawings and specification there has been set forth a preferred embodiment of the invention and, although specific terms are employed, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only, and not for purposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being defined in the claims.

We claim:

1. A method of loading continuously moving cartons each having at least one open side defined by apair of 2-5 side 'tvall fla s com risin the steps ofmoving a continuous stream ofarticles adjacent the open side of the cartons, arranging the continuous stream of articles into groups, moving the "groups of articles into the open side of each of the cartons rendering adhesive at least one of the side wall flaps of each'carton, and moving the side wall flaps of the cartons into overlapping sealing engagement with :eachother. a

2. A method of loading articles into cartons having open sides comprising continuously moving a plurality of cartons having iopen sides in a fixed path oftravel, moving continuous streams of articles along the open sides of the cartons, arranging the continuous streams of articles into groups, moving the groups of articles into opposite sides of the cartons, applying adhesive to the open sides of the cartons and moving the. sides to closed and sealed position whereby the loaded cartons areready for shipment.

3. A method of loading articles into cartons having open sides comprising continuously moving continuous streams of articles along the open sides of the cartons, slidably converging a plurality of articles from said continuous streams of articles into opposite sides of the cartons, applying adhesive to the open sides of the cartons, and moving the sides to closed and sealed position.

4. A method of loading cartons each having at least one open side comprising the steps of continuously moving a plurality of cartons forwardly along a path of travel,

moving acontinuous stream of articles adjacent :the open side of the cartons moving a plurality of articles from said continuous stream of articles .into the open side-of the cartons, applying adhesive to the open side of the cartons,iand closing the open side of the cartons in sealed position.

5. A device for loading articles into cartons having open sides comprising means for continuously moving the cartons in spaced relation, means for maintaining the sides of the carton in open position, means for moving continuous streams of articles adjacent the open sides of the cartons in a direction substantially parallel to the direction of movement of said cartons, means for engaging the articles one at a time in said continuous streams and for arranging said articles into groups, means for moving said groups of articles into opposite sides of said cartons and said last-mentioned means comprising cooperating pairs of chains on both sides of said cartons, spaced lugs provided on said chains for engaging said groups of articles and stationary group guiding plates for cooperating with said lugs to move the groups of articles by sliding movement into the open sides of said cartons.

6. A device for loading articles into cartons each hav ing at least one open side defined by a pair of side wall flaps comprising means for continuously moving the cartons in spaced relation in a path of travel, means for continuously moving a continuous stream of articles in a direction substantially parallel to the movement of said cartons adjacent the open side of the cartons, means for arranging said continuous stream of articles'into groups, means for moving the groups of articles into the open side of the cartons, means for rendering adhesive at least one of the side wall flaps of each carton, and means for moving the side wall flaps of the cartons into overlapping sealing engagement with each other.

7. A device according to claim 6 wherein said means for arranging the continuous stream of articles into groups comprises a star Wheel having a plurality of recessed portions each for receiving a single article and shoulder portions provided on said star wheel between said recessed portions to maintain the succeeding article in stationary position until it is received in the successive recessed portion of said star wheel.

8. A device for loading articles into cartons having opposed open sides comprising means for continuously moving the cartons in spaced relation, means for maintaining the sides of the carton in open position, means for moving continuous streams of articles adjacent the openvsides of the cartons in a direction substantially parallel to the direction of movement of said cartons, means for engaging the articles in said continuous stream one at a time and for arranging said articles into groups, means for moving said groups into opposite sides of said carton under a constant pressure and said last-mentioned means comprising cooperating pairs of chains onboth sides of said cartons, spaced lugs provided on said chains for engaging said articles and stationary group guiding plates for cooperating with said lugs to move the groups of articles by sliding movement into the open sides of said cartons.

9. A device for loading articles into cartons having opposed open sides comprising means for continuously moving the cartons in spaced relation, means for maintaining the sides of the carton in open position, means .for continuouslymoving continuous streams of articles opposite open sides comprising means for continuously moving the cartons horizontally past a givenpoint, means for moving continuous streams of articles on both sides -of said cartons, means for arranging thearticles into groups, means for moving said groups of articles into the opposite open sides of said cartons, said means for arranging the articles into groups comprising oppositely rotating pairs of spaced star wheels mounted on vertical axes on both sides of said cartons, each pair comprising spaced star wheels, each star wheel of each pair having a plurality of recessed portions each for receiving and engaging a single article from one of the continuous streams of articles, and shoulder portions provided on said star wheel between said recessed portions to maintain the succeeding article in stationary position until it is received in the successive recessed portion of said star wheel.

11. In a device according to claim 10 wherein said means for moving the groups of articles into the opposite open sides of said cartons comprises rotating pairs of endless chains on both sides of said cartons, spaced lugs provided on each of said chains for engaging the last article in each group and moving the groups of articles toward the cartons, said lugs moving in a path of travel above and below said pairs of spaced star wheels, stationary group guiding plates positioned at said given point for cooperating with said lugs to move the groups of articles by a sliding, converging movement into the open sides of said cartons, and said stationary guiding plates being positioned between the path of travel of said lugs on each of said pairs of chains.

12. Apparatus for positioning articles in cartons having open opposite sides comprising means for continuously moving a row of cartons in a horizontal path past a given point, means for moving a continuous stream of articles in a horizontal path on each side of said row of cartons, means for separating said articles into groups, and means to guide successive groups of articles on each side of the row of cartons in a path converging with the row of cartons to move a group of articles into each open side of each successive carton, said means for separating said articles into groups comprises at least one star wheel interposed in the path of each stream of articles and driven to rotate on a substantially vertical axis and having a plurality of circularly spaced recesses in its periphery each for receiving and imparting movement to a single article, means to guide articles into said recesses, at least one endless element interposed in each stream of axis, a plurality of longitudinal spaced lugs carried by and extending outwardly from said endless element and being movable adjacent the recesses in the star wheel, means to support said articles during movement in said streams, means to guide each successive article out of the recesses ineach star wheel, and said lugs so spaced on the endless element as to successively engage articles each time a predetermined quantity of articles have been guided out of the recesses in the adjacent star wheel whereby each successive lug imparts movement to a group of a predetermined quantity of articles.

13. A structure according to claim 12 wherein each of said means to guide groups of articles in a path converging with the row of cartons comprises at least one stationary guide element having a portion extending into the vertical plane of the path of travel of the corresponding lugs and extending at an angle to the path of groups of articles and also at an angle to the path of said row of cartons, and said guide element also extending in close proximity to the corresponding side of the row of cartons to thereby guide each successive group of articles into the corresponding open side of the adjacent carton in said row as each successive group is corresponding star wheel and past said guide element by the lugs on the corresponding endless element.

14. A method of loading articles such as cylindrical cans into cartons having opposite open sides each defined by a pair of ing the steps of continuously moving a plurality of cartonsin spaced relation along a path of travel while moved from the side wall flaps, said method compris' maintaining the side wall flaps in'open position, moving continuous streams of articles along the opposite open sides of the cartons, arranging the continuous streams of articles into groups each having a plurality of articles, moving the groups of articles into opposite open sides of the cartons, rendering adhesive at least some of the flaps and moving the side wall flaps of the carton into overlapping sealing engagement with each other to close the carton.

15. A device for loading articles such as cylindrical cans into cartons having opposite open sides each defined by a pair of side wall flaps comprising means for continuously moving the cartons in spaced relation in a path of travel, means for maintaining the side wall flaps of the cartons in open position, means for continuously moving a stream of articles adjacent the opposite open sides of the cartons, means for arranging the continuous stream of articles into groups each having a plurality of articles therein, means for moving the groups of articles into the opposite open sides of the cartons, means for rendering adhesive at least one flap of each pair of flaps, and means for moving the flaps into sealing engagement with each other to close the cartons.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,050,547 Thayer Aug. 11. 1936 2,179,648 Thayer Nov. 14, 1939 2,440,866 Malhiot May 4, 1948 2,662,356 Swafiord Dec. 15, 1953 2,728,177 Holstebroe et a1 Dec. 27, 1955 

